My choice
by LOJSS
Summary: Set after 2x08. Damon compelled Elena to forget about his love-confession, but what if she raced to the boarding house and overheard the two brothers talking about what Damon had done earlier?


**Set after 2x08 when Damon told Elena he loved her but compelled her to forget. What if she raced to the boarding house and overheard the two brothers when they were talking about what had just happened?**

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.  
  
Elena sat on her bed and fingered on her vervain necklace. For quite some time, she had thought it was lost. And suddenly it was hanging around her neck again. She couldn't really remember how it got there or who put it there, but it was back. A strange feeling inside of Elena told her that something was wrong, but she couldn't put the pieces together.

Another feeling told her she should go to the boarding house, and so she did. She didn't bother to change from her PJ's to something more appropriate. She put on her converse while she was running down the stairs, causing her almost to fall. In the last second, she regained her balance and ran out the door towards her car.

It didn't take her long until she parked her car outside the boarding house. Elena sat there for a minute, focusing on breathing before she opened her car door and went out. When she reached the front door, she heard Damon and Stefan inside, screaming at each other. Elena froze when she heard her name in the conversation.

"What did you do at Elena's, Damon?" Stefan yelled at his brother. Elena didn't move at all, she stood still and listened to their conversation. She had never heard Stefan like this, he sounded like a completely different person. And lucky her, the two brothers hadn't noticed her appearance.

"You really wanna know, brother?" Damon said sarcastically. Elena didn't hear Stefan respond, but she assumed he had nodded when Damon continued speaking.

"I told her I love her." Damon confessed. Elena gasped, a wave of pain clutched around her heart. _So the feeling wasn't false, _Elena thought. She hadn't been wrong earlier. The pain disappear suddenly and were overtaken by a warm and lovely feeling, making her heart skip a beat every now and then. She caught herself smiling. He loved her, but why couldn't she remember him telling her?

"I told her I love her and then I made her forget it ever happened. I told her I couldn't be selfish with her and that I don't deserve being with her. I told her she was supposed to be with you, because you deserves her." _Ah! _

Another wave of pain shot through her. He had compelled her? She wasn't going to stand here for another second, Elena pushed the door open and walked into the living room. Each of her step made a loud sound as they met the floor. _Thump! Thump! Thump!_

When she got to the living room, both brothers was staring at her. Elena stood there, her arms hanging limp on her sides, tears were running down her cheeks like never before. "How could you?" She whispered, not sure if he heard her.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" It was Stefan who spoke. They had been to busy screaming at each other, they didn't even notice she stood outside, listening to every word they said. She almost laughed inside, when neither of them realised what she meant with her question.

Elena didn't make an effort to answer him. She continued staring at Damon, her sight became blurry as tears overtook her eyes. "How could you?" She asked again, a little louder this time, her eyes never leaving Damon's.

Stefan walked towards her and intertwined their hands. He told her he was going to take her home, because she was not supposed to be here right now. But Elena wasn't leaving. "Don't touch me," she spat at him but regretted her words at the same time she had said them. She didn't apologize though, she only moved away from his embrace and walked a little closer to where Damon was standing.

"Stefan, can you leave?" Elena asked. All three of them surprised by her question. But Stefan did as she asked, he left her alone with Damon. When Damon was sure Stefan was out of hearing, he spoke.

"What are you doing here, Elena?" Damon asked. He was scared about the fact that Elena could have heard his and Stefan's talk just minutes earlier, and also about the fact that her first question could have had something to do with it.

"Why did you do it?" Elena asked, stubborn as she was. She wasn't going to back down, she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Damon shrugged. It felt like a punch in the stumach for Elena and another set of tears streamed down her face. Damon sighed deeply and threw back the glass with Bourbon down his mouth before pouring himself another drink.

"Can you stop that?" Elena asked angerly. She knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to shut her out and pretend he wasn't feeling anything at all. He was trying to convince her that he actually didn't know what she was talking about. "I heard what you said to Stefan, about loving me. And about compelling me so I wouldn't remember." She breathed. Damon looked at her like she was delusional. _"I heard you." _She confirmed, but it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that rather than Damon.

Damon sighed. He hated to see Elena like this. She looked so hurt, and it was all because of him. This was exactly what he was trying to prevent.

"Elena," He downed the last of the liquid in his glass and put it down. "I am sorry." It came out more of a whisper, but Elena heard it loud and clear.

"Why did you do it?" She asked again. Her face twisted in pain as she waited for him to answer.

"Because I am selfish and because I don't deserve you."

"Stop saying that. God, you have been putting me on some kind of pedestal since the first day I met you. I am not the kind of perfect angel that you are trying to make me look like. And what you did tonight, that wasn't your choice to make." Elena stopped and breathed for a while. She waited a little longer to see if Damon was going to say something. But he didn't, so she continued.

"Do you remember that night when you snapped Jeremy's neck?" Elena suddenly asked.

"How could I forget." Damon said, frowning.

"Before you did it, you told me I was the liar in all of this and you said that there was something between us. And it is. And when I said it would always be Stefan, I was wrong. I realise that now. Always is a very long time, and alot of things can happen." She stopped for a second to look at Damon. His expression was empty, but his eyes was full with a lifetime of emotions.

"What does any of that have anything to do with this?" Confused were written over Damon's face. He usually were an expert on putting two and two together, but this time he couldn't.

"Don't you see, Damon? You were right. I was lying, not only to you but to myself. And tonight when I was sitting on my bed, I felt something was wrong. I just couldn't put a finger to it. But something told me I should get over here, and so I did, and then I overheard you and Stefan talk. When I heard you say that you loved me, my heart literally skipped a beat." She stopped at that sentence and blushed. Damon's smirk appeared on his face. "And when you said you had compelled me to forget, I was hurt. And angry."

When Elena looked up at Damon, her heart broke. His smirk was gone and pain was twisting all over his face, together with regret, but his eyes showed love. His ocean blue eyes was staring at her with such love, causing the air in her lungs vanish.

In a second, Damon stood in front of her, caressing her face in between his hands. "I am sorry, Elena. I am so sorry." He repeated to her, making sure she understood exactly how sad he was for what he had done. Not only tonight, but for everything he had ever done to hurt her. "I didn't want to cause you pain, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't tell you. And when I finally did, I got scared. Fear overtook my senses and I lost it. And so I compelled you to forget, so you would go on with Stefan, unknown of my feelings for you." Tears was welling up in Damon's eyes as well, but he fought them the best he could.

Elena felt her heart drop. Damon was willing to watch her be with his brother, even though he loved her too. And the worst part is, that Elena had been developed feelings for Damon as well. Surely, she loved Stefan, but she loved Damon too. And when she had found out about Katherine, Elena had promised herself she wouldn't be anything like her, so she had tried to ignore her feelings for Damon and done everything she could not to think about it. But how would she be able to do that after tonights events?

"That was still not your choice to make, Damon." Elena said flatly. "It is mine. I am the one who should choose." Damon knew that sentence had a two-way direction. Not only choosing what had happened tonight, but also choosing between himself and Stefan.

Damon closed his eyes and nodded, he didn't trust himself when it came to speaking for the moment. And somehow, he wasn't looking forward to the way this would go. Of course she wouldn't choose him. Stefan and her belonged together. _Why would she want to be with me? _Damon thought.

Elena stood before him, lost in her own thoughts. She had to choose, and she had to do it now. The wheels inside of her head was spinning around, working at a super speed, trying to juggle her feelings for the two brothers.

She knew she was going to hurt one of them tonight, she would break one of their hearts. She gazed up at Damon who patiently waited for her to say something. When Elena looked into his ocean blue eyes, she knew what her choice would be. It was almost like a revelation had hit her. She had probably known it for a long time, though she had been ignoring it. Just like she had been ignoring her true feelings for him. _It's time to be true to myself_, Elena thought.

Elena smiled at Damon but didn't say anything. Instead, she lifted herself up on her toes and gently crashed her lips down on his. In the instant their lips met, fireworks and flames were flying around them. Never in her life, had Elena felt something like this. And she knew from that moment, that she had made the right choice. For a second, all thoughts of Stefan was gone. It was as if he didn't existed.

But somewhere in the back of Elena's mind, she was thinking about what they were going to tell Stefan.

**That's that! What do you think? Please, read & review!**


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